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Previous Challenge Entry
Topic: Insulted (11/01/04)
TITLE: Cold Stones
By Carol Camper
11/05/04
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Lathan escaped to the ends of the earth, or as far as his room allowed. He crouched in the corner of his closet. He slammed the door to block out the light. In the other room he heard his friends’ tongues wagging about the frivolous and inane, their lips spewing poison. He loved their cruelty. Before that man arrived, Lathan laughed with them, beer and slurs dripping down his chin. Who was that man, the one with the flashlight? At first he did not notice it, but the man focused the beam right at his eyes. He felt a searing in his chest. Who brings a flashlight to a party? What a loser. Lathan snarled at him, “Go away.” He told his roommates to kick the guy out, but they said there was no guy. The light brightened. Lathan could barely see. He grabbed his chest. He ran. He hid.

The closet door shattered. Lathan covered his eyes with his forearm. There was no flashlight. The man’s presence blinded him. He reached into Lathan’s chest and pulled out a cold stone. The man said, “I’ve replaced your heart with one of flesh.” Lathan’s heart pounded as if for the first time. Blood pulsed through his body. The light dimmed until he saw the man holding a book in his hand. It was a bible. The man disappeared.

Lathan shook his head. He blamed the illusion on alcohol. He headed for the door, laughing to himself about what his friends would say, but the voices in the other room no longer sounded comforting, only painful and ugly. What was happening to him? He picked up the bible and dropped on his bed. He put his hand to his heart. He shook with fear of what is to come.